Maria Santiago
Maria Santiago (née Flores) was the wife of Dominic Santiago. She was a childhood friend of the Santiagos and Marcus Fenix, and she would later date and marry Dom Santiago, shortly before giving birth to their first child, Benedicto Santiago, when they were both sixteen. They later had a second child two years later, named Sylvia Santiago. Maria's children, along with her parents, were killed on Emergence Day. That event would lead to her depression and eventual self exile. After years of being missing, she was finally found by her husband and Marcus Fenix in a Locust prison camp only to find that she had been "processed" and severely tortured to the point that she couldn't even recognize her own husband. Dom was forced to euthanize her to end her suffering, something he never recovered from. Biography Early Life Maria was born and raised by her mother and father in the Imulsion township known as Mercy. The town had been attacked during the Pendulum Wars. By 9 B.E., the Flores family had moved out of Mercy, when Maria was eleven years old. Eventually the Flores moved in the suburbs of Ephyra. Maria and her family lived two houses down from the Santiago family. In her free-time, Maria would climb the tree in her front-yard, which attracted the attention of Dominic Santiago. Dominic eventually introduced himself to Maria and the two became good friends, as well as befriending Dominic's older brother, Carlos Santiago, and their best friend, Marcus Fenix. Starting a Family By 4 B.E., when they both were sixteen, Maria and Dom began dating and became sexually active. Maria, however, had missed her period and confronted Dom about her pregnancy. Dom, after revealing the news to his parents, then accompanied Maria in telling her parents about the pregnancy. Dominic had always planned on marrying Maria, and her pregnancy led them to finally get married. Maria then gave birth to a son, Benedicto, after the middle name of Carlos Santiago. When Benedicto was born in Frost of that year, Maria received a single pearl necklace from Dom to mark the birth of their son. After spending several months with Maria and Benedicto, he soon enlisted into the COG to support his family - going against his mother's wishes. Before Dom left, he, Maria, and Carlos went to a bar off of Embry Square where Carlos took a picture of the couple, which would years later to be used during Dominic's search for Maria. After Dom went to basic training, Maria mostly wanted to take care of Benedicto by herself. During their marriage, the two had moved from the suburbs of Ephyra and into an apartment in Jacinto. A year later, Maria was pregnant with a girl. Maria only saw Dom once on his leave from after the conception of their daughter to before her birth. Maria was awoken by Dom in the middle of the night. She and Dom spent the next week buying and building baby furniture for their expecting daughter, only for Dom to be called back early from leave. He promised Maria to be home when the baby was born. However, Maria went into premature labor, so Dom missed his daughter's birth. Maria had decided to name her Sylvia Carla, in honor of Carlos, who died during Sylvia's birth in the Battle of Aspho Fields. Aspho Fields and Aftermath Gears of War: Aspho Fields Due to the heroic actions of Maria's husband, Dom received the Embry Star and attended the ceremony. Maria later went to a formal dinner at the hotel with Dominic, Marcus Fenix, Anya Stroud, Eva and Eduardo Santiago, and Adam Fenix. After Dom's parents left, Maria and Dom chose to rather be home with the kids. Maria told Dom she wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of a relationship between Marcus and Anya who were clearly attracted to each other and went home together, saying they'd get in trouble as she was an officer and Marcus was enlisted. However, Dom believed if they kept it to off-duty hours they'd be fine. In the next two years, Dom was on majority leave and spent more time with his family. Maria and Dom decided to move out of their apartment in Jacinto and into a house in the suburb of Ephyra. The Ephyra residence was a two-story Villa-style house, and Maria and Dom continued to live there for the next two years. By the end of of those two years, the Hammer of Dawn was used to end the Pendulum Wars, allowing Maria to be with her husband and kids together in their new home. Emergence Day and Locust War Six weeks after the end of the Pendulum Wars, Maria sent Benedicto and Sylvia to be with her parents for the day so that she and Dom could spend quality time together. Maria surprised Dom with breakfast in bed and told him that kids were with her mother, allowing them the day to themselves. Later that day, the Locust Horde emerged from the Hollows and invaded every major city on Sera, including Ephyra, in what would be known as Emergence Day. The Locust emerged to kill every man, woman, and child and were successful in killing a quarter of the planet's population. Among those dead were Benedicto and Sylvia, as well as Maria's parents. While unable to bury her children, Maria had her parents buried in her hometown of Mercy, in the family grave. The deaths of their children and parents devastated both Maria and Dom, but Maria was officially diagnosed with PTSD and prescribed anti-depressant medication. Dominic was called back to duty during the Locust War, leaving Maria alone in their home, exposed to the news reports of the Locust incursions day by day. Hammer of Dawn Counterattack The following months after Emergence Day, Maria was still grieving over her children. Maria developed the routine of cleaning her children's bedrooms followed by walks in the city. She would go for weeks without speaking or eating and blamed herself for her children's deaths, for sending the kids to her parents that day, thinking she let the Locust Horde get them. On the first anniversary of Emergence Day, Dom had cooked dinner for Maria, Marcus, and himself while she ran the daily routines. Afterwards, when Dom was prepared to go back from leave, Maria went through the kitchen drawers and found the photo Carlos had taken of them at the bar in Embry Square. She signed on the back a note: "So you always have me with you... I love you, Dominic... Always, Maria." She gave the photo to Dom and promised to always keep it safe, to remind him of her. Following the anniversary of E-Day, the newly appointed Chairman Richard Prescott announced that that 90% of Sera was to be incinerated by the Hammer of Dawn. After the announcement, she was transported to Fenix Estate where Adam Fenix took care of her. Dom eventually got her to admit that she went on her walks because she believed that the kids were still alive because she had seen them. Maria had blocked out the truth that her kids died and didn't listen to Dom. She also risked her health to go outside to see them again after the Hammer drop - the event that led to the constant pollution cloud all over Sera. Living with the Stranded Maria's depression soon led to her self exile, thus leaving Dom and found herself living with the Stranded. During 2 A.E., Maria went out on one last venture to find her children, but ended up leaving entirely. Dom would speculate what happen to Maria during this time and hoped that she was taken care of by the Stranded, theorizing she was with people that loved her and took care of her. Eventually Maria wound up with Stranded group lead by Stu in Ephyra. After the Lightmass Bomb, the surface became a dangerous issue for all Stranded, and some began to camp underground in the outskirts of Locust areas. Maria's group went underground to escape the constant fighting and attack raids on Stranded Camps by the Locust.Gears of War 2 They soon fled into the Hollows beneath the safety of Mount Kadar. Only then did Maria's group camp on the shore by the lake to wait for Stu's friend, Chaps. At some point they were captured by the Locust and Maria, along with her group, were taken across the lake to the prison camps on the Locust Highway. There, she was put to labor and deprived of valuable resources and tortured, ultimately being put in a machine that cut in the tear duct of the left eye and began to scrape at brain matter. This began the process of her lobotomy, making her a mindless slave to the Locust Horde. Death In the events of Operation: Hollow Storm, Dom and Marcus went on a detour searching for Maria after they received a helpful lead from Chaps who was a witness to her capture by the Locust, and told them that Maria had been imprisoned near the Locust Highway. Desperate to save his wife, Dom convinced Marcus to go off-mission to rescue Maria. Dom and Marcus fought through to her prison near the highway. Arriving at the prison, Dom and Marcus find the first real proof of Maria's location by accessing her files in the Locust terminals. After searching through the prison and fighting off the Locust guards, JACK found Maria's cell. Dom had finally found Maria, but she was emaciated, tortured, and broken in every way. Marcus allowed Dom to do the "right" thing, and left them alone so Dom could have a few minutes left with his wife. After apologizing for not finding her in time, Dom reached for his pistol and was forced to euthanize her, due to her suffering and lost sanity. He shot Maria in the head to end her pain, and took the necklace he gave her when their son was born. Dom continued with Marcus to Nexus to continue Operation: Hollow Storm. Legacy Maria's death was an emotional toll on Dom - causing him to lose his optimistic personality, growing a more cold, pessimistic outlook on life. Dom's friends gave their condalscences and assured him that euthanizing her was the right thing to do, but Dom blamed himself for not finding her in time and believed that she could have been saved, that euthanizing her might have been a mistake. However, Dr. Isabel Hayman had theories and believed that Maria had ataxia, dystonia, nystagmus, bradykinesia, ocular toxin deposition and said none of those diseases were curable and that Maria was slowly dying, as well as being in a permanent vegetative state due to the lobotomy the Locust put her through. Dr. Hayman assured Dom that euthanizing her was the right thing to do and that nothing else could have been done. As time went on, Dom came to accept Maria's death and hoped she was happy and loved when she lived with the Stranded before she was captured. Two years after her death, Dom still grieved over her death and the actions he took. Dom let himself grow a beard and took up tomato farming in order to care for something. To honor and remember Maria, he had fellow Gear Samantha Byrne modify his heart tattoo into an angelic Maria cradling the heart with her wings. During this, Samantha grew a romantic attachment to Dominic, but he was unable to reciprocate the same feelings. During the Lambent Invasion, Dom lived on the CNV Sovereign and tried to go on with his life. The Lambent began to attack the ship when Sovereign was entering Lambent waters near Hanover Coast. Dom was reluctant to leaving his crops and radishes as if they were his family. As the Lambent boarded the Sovereign deck, he was concerned for the well being of his tomatoes and crops. When Sovereign crashed, they ventured to Anvil Gate to decode the late Prescott’s disk that would lead them to Adam Fenix so that he could end the Lambent pandemic. After being tasked to get a submarine from Endeavour Naval Shipyard to Azura, Dom suggested they get fuel from Mercy or Char. Sam was concerned about Dom suggesting going to Maria’s hometown in Mercy. Though emotionally broken, Dom assured her he could handle it and they needed the fuel. When they arrived to Mercy, Dom began to remember Maria. Dom visited the Flores family grave and prayed to Maria that he was sorry for not saving her, but promised he would be with them soon - offering his COG tags and Maria's necklace to the grave. When Delta finally got the fuel, they were cornered by Locust and Lambent. Due to his emptiness without Maria and love for Marcus, he drove a truck into the fuel tanks to kill all of the Lambent and Locust in the area, right after Dom prayed to Maria that he would have never thought it would end like this. Dom managed to save Marcus and Delta Squad, who were then able to reach Adam Fenix and end the Locust and Lambent War. Maria's legacy encouraged Dom to save the world. Personality and Traits Maria, typical of most parents, loved her children and husband. Maria, however, was independent. When Dom was in the army, she wanted to take care of Benedicto and Sylvia by herself without her mother's help. When her children were killed on Emergence Day, she entered into a phase of Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. She was later prescribed anti-depressants and showed some revealing side effects. She would cry every day while she still cleans the kids bedrooms and goes on walks believing she will still find them. She would go days without food or water and finally giving in to her loss, left the only safe place on Sera to live among the Stranded. Quotes Behind the Scenes *Maria Santiago was voiced by Courtney Ford. *Maria's death was Cliff Bleszinski's personal statement on Terri Schaivo and his belief in "right to death".https://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/635974096392716288 *Maria was indirectly mentioned in Gears of War with Dom mentioning he was "looking for someone", and Franklin's reply "No news on the lady, man." Her first appearances were in Gears of War 2 with a photograph, flashback and the Sourcebook in the Day One story. *Maria and Dom can be seen in a photograph in the multiplayer map Mercy in Gears of War 3 after a bell rings somewhere from 5 minutes to 10 minutes. After the bell rings, the photograph can be found on the altar in the Sanctuary. If shot by a player when it appears, you can hear Dom weeping in the background. Appearances *The Slab *Gears of War *Gears of War: Ultimate Edition *Aspho Fields *Hollow *One Day *Gears of War 2 *Jacinto's Remnant *Gears of War: Anvil Gate *Gears of War: Coalition's End *Gears of War 3 References Category:Characters Category:Civilians Category:COG Category:Females Category:Stranded Category:Tyran